Few believed that the Red Star basketball players could surprise Anadolu Efes and give Partizan a chance to reach the playoffs of the Euroleague, but few could have guessed that the last match of the "red and white" team of the season on the European stage would turn out to be into a nightmare.
Efes was merciless, going into the playoffs for the quarterfinals (as ninth place) after inflicting the heaviest defeat on Zvezda since playing in the Euroleague - it was even 100:55 in the "Sinan Erdem" hall.
The home team was in control from the start, but started to make a difference in the second quarter.
At halftime it was 45:31, at the end of the third period even plus 32 in favor of the double champion of Europe - 76:44. At one point, there were 48 differences (92:44)...
Ilajdža Bryant led Efes with 26 points, Luka Mitrović, Rokas Gedraitis and Nemanja Nedović each had 11 in Zvezda.
Monaco defeated Bayern 89:85 and secured the home court advantage in the playoffs, while Real Madrid won against Zalgiris in Kaunas with a basket by Gabriel Dek three tenths before the end - 64:62.
It is the current champion's 27th triumph.
Maccabi was better than Olympia Milano (92:86), while Panathinaikos broke the resistance of Alba only in the last quarter - 84:75.
Bonus video:
